All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

Chapter 97 Another Storm Begins

The sound grew clearer and clearer as it approached. "Huh? Why are there so many men in this forest?"

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw a person hanging from an apricot tree branch, peering down.

The man was thin and about thirty-two or thirty-three years old. He had sunken cheeks, a mustache, drooping eyebrows, and was quite ugly.

He glanced down from the tree and suddenly spotted Li Qiushui and her group, then saw Bao Butong lying on the ground. He was immediately startled: "Azhu? Abi? What are you doing here? Brother Bao, what happened to him?"

With a clang, the single-edged sword was drawn. The man leaped down from the tree and pounced straight at Li Qiushui.

Abi's expression changed, and she quickly cried out, "Grandma, please have mercy! This man is my fourth brother, Feng!"

Li Qiushui nodded and made a downward palm strike. The white rainbow palm force that had remained in the arena responded to the movement, and the invisible force pressed down like a mountain.

Before Feng Bo'e could even get close, he was forced to the ground and unable to move.

He struggled a few times, only to find that he was completely unable to resist. His eyes widened in disbelief.

Azhu and Abi walked up to Feng Bo'e, squatted down, and whispered to him what had happened in the past few days.

Feng Bo'e lay on the ground, listening and making "uh-uh" responses, but it was unclear how much he actually absorbed.

Seeing that Feng Bo'e had been subdued, Zhang Cheng and Qiao Feng turned their attention back to him.

Zhang Cheng clasped his hands and said, "Chief Qiao, I imagine your gang has some family matters to attend to, so we outsiders will take our leave now."

"

Qiao Feng nodded: "The matter within the gang is not yet settled and needs to be dealt with, so I will not keep you here any longer."

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He paused, then said, "Please ask Sect Leader Zhang to convey to Young Master Murong that he waits in Henan for a few days, and I, Qiao, will certainly pay him a visit afterward."

Zhang Cheng nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, he and Qiao Feng both looked towards the northeast.

A series of hurried footsteps approached from afar, growing closer and closer, with shouts faintly mixed in.

Before long, another group of Beggars' Sect disciples emerged from the forest and swarmed over in shadowy figures.

Some asked urgently, "Where's the gang leader? How is he? Where's the traitor?"

Some let out a sigh of relief, cursing, "We've been tricked by those people! They locked me up like a suffocator!"

Some shouted, "Make way, make way! I want to see who's got the guts to do this!"

After these people arrived, they surrounded the group of the four elders and started shouting. The place became a chaotic mess.

Qiao Feng's face lit up with joy upon seeing this group. This group consisted of the two elders responsible for transmitting skills and enforcing the law, along with the five branch leaders and their subordinates, whom Elder Wu had previously mentioned as having been imprisoned by them.

He said loudly, "Everyone, please sit down and don't make a fuss, lest you become a laughing stock among your fellow martial artists."

Upon hearing this, both the disciples who had laid down their weapons in the apricot grove earlier and the new group of disciples responded in unison, "Yes!"

They sat down in an orderly fashion in the clearing in the woods, each according to their rank and seniority.

Seeing that everyone knew how to behave and follow the rules, Qiao Feng felt a little relieved. He secretly thought that he must handle the situation calmly and never let the Beggars' Clan brothers kill each other again.

He turned to the newly arrived disciples and asked, "Elders of Enforcement and Transmission, and all the branch leaders, how did you escape?"

"It was I who released them," an elderly beggar with a flowing white beard, dressed in a patched-up robe, slowly spoke.

Upon seeing this man, Qiao Feng immediately bowed and said, "Greetings, Elder Xu!" The Beggar Clan disciples present were also deeply moved upon seeing this man, their expressions filled with respect.

Elder Xu is a highly respected senior member of the Beggars' Sect. He is eighty-seven years old this year, and even the former leader of the sect, Wang, respectfully calls him "Uncle-Master".

All the current Beggars' Sect disciples are his juniors.

He had long since retired from public life and was no longer involved in worldly affairs. For some reason, he suddenly appeared here and even rescued the imprisoned gang members.

Qiao Feng said respectfully, "I am incompetent, which has caused chaos among the brothers in the gang and even alarmed Elder Xu."

Elder Xu shook his head: "I have another purpose in coming here."

He looked around at the beggars and said loudly, "Madam Ma, the widow of Brother Ma Dayuan, is coming soon and has something to say to you all."

How about we wait a moment for her?

These words immediately sparked another round of discussion in the room.

Qiao Feng was filled with doubts, and his heart grew heavier. Everything that had happened today seemed strange.

He knew most of his brothers who rebelled well, and he understood their character thoroughly. They would never have rebelled together without a specific reason.

But what secrets could possibly drive them to take such a risk and set a trap to kill them?

What puzzled him even more was that Elder Xu had been retired for many years and had long since stopped caring about worldly affairs, so why was he more informed than him and able to arrive in time to rescue the two elders and five leaders who had been detained?

And what exactly did Madam Ma come to say when he mentioned "coming to make a statement"?

He took a deep breath, suppressing his chaotic thoughts.

Regardless of anything else, Qiao Feng acted with integrity and uprightness. Whatever schemes or plots you had, bring them on!

He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "If this matter is of great importance, then everyone should just wait and see."

Elder Xu only said, "This matter is of great importance," and then fell silent, returning to his seat.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Zhang Cheng suddenly sent a telepathic message to Qiao Feng: "Chief Qiao, it seems the internal strife within your gang is not yet over. Why don't I stay here a little longer and provide backup?"

Before Qiao Feng could reply, he plopped down next to Elder Wu, the only one of the four elders he hadn't fought before, and handed him his wine pouch.

"Hey Wu, we haven't even sparred yet. If there's a chance another day, I'll give Zhang a couple of pointers."

Elder Wu glanced at the man and thought to himself, "I've gathered a crowd to cause trouble today, and this man has come with Chief Qiao. Why does it seem like he's hoping I'll live?"

However, he didn't stand on ceremony, reached out and took the wine flask, tilted his head back and drank it.

He gulped down several large mouthfuls, wiped his mouth, handed the wine flask back to Zhang Cheng, and said in a deep voice, "Good wine."

The Beggars' Sect is arranged by seating order, and the person sitting next to Elder Wu is either an elder or a branch leader.

Apart from the two elders and five helmsmen who came later, everyone else had witnessed the man's prowess, so no one felt there was anything wrong with him sitting there.

Since no one was asking him to leave, Zhang Cheng sat down in the room without any hesitation.

Li Qiushui and the others in the distance were not driven away either.

Li Qiushui herself had no interest in the Beggars' Sect's internal affairs, but since Zhang Cheng wanted to stay, she figured it wouldn't hurt to follow along.

As for the Murong family group standing nearby, the death of Deputy Chief Ma was already related to Murong Fu, and they were eager to hear more. Seeing that no one was trying to kick them out, they sat quietly, observing the situation.

Before long, the sound of horses' hooves sounded again. Two riders galloped toward the apricot grove.

As everyone looked, the people on horseback were not Ma Dayuan's widow, but an old man and an old woman. The man was short, while the woman was quite tall, creating an interesting contrast.